Latest news with #WhiteKnights
Egypt Today
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Egypt Today
Mohamed Ramadan Drops ‘Ana Ra'esha' as a Fiery Tribute to Shikabala & Zamalek's Egypt Cup Victory
In celebration of Zamalek's 29th Egypt Cup win, Mohamed Ramadan dedicates his latest track 'Ana Ra'esha' to captain Shikabala and the White Knights—turning football glory into musical fire.
Al-Ahram Weekly
11-04-2025
- Sport
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Defender Mahmoud ‘El-Wensh' signs new deal with Zamalek - Egyptian Football
Zamalek international defender Mahmoud 'El-Wensh' Hamdi has ended speculation surrounding his future after signing a three-year contract extension with the club, the Cairo giants announced on Friday. El-Wensh, who was out of contract at the end of this season, will remain at the White Knights until the end of the 2027–2028 season. The 29-year-old center-back, who joined Zamalek in summer 2016 from Tala'ea El-Gaish, has now committed to a 12-year stint with the White Knights by the end of his new deal. Throughout his nine seasons with Zamalek, El-Wensh has played 235 matches across all competitions, contributing to 14 goals and helping the team secure 11 titles (7 domestic and 6 continental). The defender made his return to action this season after suffering a cruciate ligament tear in February 2024, an injury that followed an earlier partial tear of the same ligament. Since his recovery, he has featured in 21 matches and even scored a goal against Gouna in the Egypt Capital Cup. El-Wensh has already helped his teams secure two league titles, along with two CAF Confederation Cups, and two CAF Super Cups. Additionally, he has also helped the team secure three Egypt Cup trophies and two Egyptian Super Cups, further cementing his role as one of the club's standout players. (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.) Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Al-Ahram Weekly
08-04-2025
- Sport
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Zamalek's Zizo refutes reports of signing with rival Ahly - Egyptian Football
Zamalek winger Ahmed "Zizo" Sayed has firmly denied reports suggesting he has signed with any club, either inside Egypt or abroad, amid rife speculations about his future as his contract with the White Knights edges closer to expiration. Recent reports on social media claimed the 29-year-old had agreed to join rival Ahly ahead of the 2025 Club World Cup, scheduled in the United States between 15 June and 13 July. "I've chosen not to comment on contract extension talks for some time, but now I need to make it clear: I haven't signed with any team, inside or outside Egypt," Zizo said in a statement posted on his Instagram account Tuesday. 'The club holding my signature should be the one to announce it - if they have it,' he added. Zizo also expressed respect for Zamalek, where he has played for several years while referring to unresolved issues related to his rights as a player. 'People should understand that I respect the great club I play for, but there are issues I haven't spoken about, including my rights as a player - just like any player in the world,' Zizo said. The winger's contract with Zamalek is set to expire at the end of the current season, meaning he has been in the open negotiation period since January. This allows him to discuss terms with any club, including potential suitors like Ahly, should Zamalek fail to renew his contract. However, recent reports suggested that talks between Zizo and Zamalek have stalled due to his financial demands, as well as a lucrative offer from rival club Ahly. Zizo also questioned the public focus on his contract situation. 'Why hasn't anyone talked about my delayed payments from Zamalek? Why hasn't anyone mentioned that the club left me waiting a long time without extending my contract?' 'Why hasn't anyone pointed out that contract extension talks have come at a late stage in my career, as a footballer?' Zizo continued. The winger also highlighted the offers he had rejected in the past year, saying, 'I turned down offers ten times bigger than the current ones, choosing to wait for Zamalek's proposal.' Zizo reassured Zamalek fans, stating, 'I'm not trying to negotiate or play games. But the other party must also want me to stay.' 'I'm awaiting the club's response until the final day of the Confederation Cup, and I hope to win with my teammates.' He concluded. Since joining Zamalek from Portugal's Moreirense in January 2019, Zizo has been a key player, helping the club secure eight major trophies, including two Egyptian League titles, two CAF Confederation Cups, one Egyptian Super Cup, and two African Super Cups. Over his five seasons at Zamalek, Zizo has scored 84 goals and provided 71 assists in 260 appearances across all competitions. This season, he has played 31 matches, netting eight goals and registering eight assists. (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.) Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Al-Ahram Weekly
14-03-2025
- Sport
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Zamalek extend defender Omar Gaber's contract until 2027 - Egyptian Football
Cairo giants Zamalek have extended versatile defender Omar Gaber's contract until 2027, the club announced on Friday. The 33-year-old's previous deal was set to expire in June, but the White Knights rewarded his consistent performances with a two-year extension. The Egyptian international right-back rejoined Zamalek in summer of 2022 from Pyramids FC, signing a three-year deal. Since his return, Gaber has reestablished himself as a vital asset, featuring for the club in 98 games across all competitions, scoring one goal and providing 14 assists. This season, Gaber contributing five assists in 27 appearances across all competitions. A product of Zamalek's youth system, Gaber first represented the club from 2010 to 2016, scoring 13 goals and providing 15 assists in 158 matches, winning three Egypt Cup titles during his initial stint. His European journey began with Swiss side FC Basel in 2016, where he secured a domestic double in 18 months. A brief MLS spell with Los Angeles FC followed in 2018, but he returned to Egypt later that year, joining Pyramids FC, where he made 139 appearances, scoring three goals and providing 6 assists over four seasons. Since rejoining Zamalek, he has lifted the 2023 CAF Confederation Cup and CAF Super Cup, cementing his legacy as a key figure for the White Knights. (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.) Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Billionaire Media Owners Aren't the White Knights Journalists Dreamed Of
During a bleak period for the Los Angeles Times in 2006 under Tribune Co., editors quietly courted billionaire media mogul David Geffen to buy the newspaper, hoping that, in the spirit of civic-minded duty, he would run the Times as a public trust and protect its editorial integrity. Almost 20 years later, the longstanding dream of billionaire White Knights swooping in to rescue journalism appears to gradually be turning into a nightmare, with some of those moguls revealing themselves, as fantasy characters go, to be something closer to Lex Luthor than the saviors that were envisioned. Instead of the enlightened ownership for which journalists had hoped, the fear now is these corporate titans view newspapers as just another asset to help fuel their larger business objectives. For some, that has meant currying favor with the new Trump administration. The latest rude awakening comes at The Washington Post, where owner and Inc. chairman Jeff Bezos on Wednesday mandated that the newspaper's opinion pages only publish work that is supportive of 'personal liberties and free markets.' 'Viewpoints opposing those pillars will be left to be published by others,' Bezos wrote in a note to staff. The newspaper's top opinion editor, David Shipley, quit in protest, and journalists in the newsroom — already in the midst of an exodus to other outlets — threatened they would do the same if Bezos' meddling found its way to the news side of the operation. As concerns about billionaire newspaper owners go, Bezos has received fairly stiff competition from Patrick Soon-Shiong, the proprietor of the Los Angeles Times, whose pivot to embrace the Trump administration has similarly alarmed staff, prompted resignations and thrown the future of an already-struggling enterprise beset by rounds of layoffs into further chaos. The for-profit model of journalism, with its naive faith in supposedly public-spirited plutocrats as owners, is utterly failing in this time of existential threat to democracy.' – Samuel Freedman Indeed, the underlying notion behind the dream of the billionaire owner hinged on the fact that they could theoretically afford to safeguard the paper's editorial mission while alleviating some of the grinding financial pressures. As The New York Times reported at the time of Geffen's courtship, the DreamWorks co-founder had indicated to associates 'that he would be willing to accept lower profits at the newspaper so he could invest in making it world class.' That image of an almost philanthropic approach to journalism had some precedent, and stood in stark contrast to the corporate ownership of the Times by Tribune and Sam Zell. Known as 'the grave dancer' for acquiring distressed properties, Zell's tight-fisted stewardship heralded a cycle of cost-cutting and shrinking circulation that has defined the digital age and come to feel like an inexorable death spiral. Ironically, nothing better exemplified the image of enlightened ownership than the image of the Washington Post's Katharine Graham — having inherited responsibility for the paper — standing firm in the face of an assault on the free press by the Nixon administration during the Watergate years in the 1970s. That moment has echoed through journalism lore, immortalized by Steven Spielberg's 2017 movie 'The Post,' which essentially serves as a more Graham-centric complement to 'All the President's Men.' Initially, Bezos — who bought the Post for $250 million in 2013 — did say all the right things, and invested in attracting top journalistic talent while encouraging experimentation to meet the demands of the digital age. Soon-Shiong, a biotech billionaire, bought the Times in 2018, which felt like a relief after its final stretch under Tronc, the comically named company formerly known as Tribune. 'We look forward to continuing the great tradition of award-winning journalism,' he said when the deal closed, though losses continued to bloom and The Wall Street Journal reported in 2021 that Soon-Shiong had considered selling the paper shortly after he bought it. Other warning signs of billionaire media ownership flared during the run-up to last year's presidential election, when both Bezos and Soon-Shiong spiked editorial endorsements of Kamala Harris, in what many saw as a hedge-betting maneuver to avoid angering the notoriously vindictive Trump should he win. Those actions prompted waves of canceled subscriptions that, in the current climate, such publications can ill afford. Since then, Soon-Shiong has provided a steady drip of fodder to irritate and embarrass his newsroom, including interviews with conservative outlets, talking about affixing a 'bias meter' to stories, or the Times' editing of an op-ed piece about health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that appeared to mislead readers and outraged its author. Bezos' decree on his paper's opinion section triggered immediate condemnation and derision. Former Post media columnist Margaret Sullivan, writing in The Guardian, called it 'a death knell' for a 'once-great news organization.' Marty Baron, the Washington Post's former executive editor, said he 'couldn't be more sad and disgusted' by Bezos' decision. George Conway, a high-profile attorney and fixture on MSNBC, posted on X: 'Please do yourself, your journalists, and your country a favor by selling the formerly venerated journalistic institution you seem intent on destroying.' He described himself as 'a former contributor and subscriber to the Washington Post.' The problem, of course, is that efforts to pressure the likes of Bezos and Soon-Shiong run into the same issue that once made their control over the Post and Times appear to be a virtue — namely, their financial wherewithal allows them to absorb short-term hits in pursuit of larger objectives. Only here, that mission transparently looks to be cozying up to the White House in a way that reeks of self-interest, as opposed to weathering economic storms to preserve and defend journalism's highest ideals. 'The for-profit model of journalism, with its naive faith in supposedly public-spirited plutocrats as owners, is utterly failing in this time of existential threat to democracy,' Samuel Freedman, a professor at Columbia University's journalism school, posted on Facebook. In 2023, Washington Post interim CEO Patty Stonesifer said Bezos was pleased with 'every dollar invested' in the company, adding: 'Jeff's second decade of ownership of The Post should be even more exciting.' For journalists at the Post and elsewhere, that excitement again feels very much like a case of being careful what you wish for. The post Billionaire Media Owners Aren't the White Knights Journalists Dreamed Of appeared first on TheWrap.
